The Music Box
by GobblestheWarrior
Summary: And that's when she first heard the melody. The beautiful, perfect melody that made all her worries seem to dissapear. In fact, everything seemed to dissapear. Everything but her, and the music box. SEDDIE CHRISTMAS!
1. Chapter 1

_December 24th, 1997_

_Twas Christmas Eve, and little Samantha Reynolds was having trouble sleeping, but it was not for the reason you would think. She was not like most children who would be bursting with energy, excited for what Santa may have brought them in the morning. She was not like her twin sister Melanie, who contained her excitement by screaming into a pillow for ten minutes before neatly tucking herself in. She was not like little Carly Shay and her big brother Spencer in Yakama, who's Grandpa had to convince them Santa would not come if she did not go to bed by midnight in order to get her to sleep, or little Freddie Benson, who's mother tied the poor three year old to his bed in an attempt to make sure he got some sleep. She was not like Spencer, who's friends teased him for still beleving in Santa at sixteen years old. The reason Samantha couldn't sleep was because she was scared. She had always thought there was something suspicious about a fat man sneaking in through the chimmeny and eating thier food, but every year, her daddy would hold her. Samantha never really saw Daddy around anymore. Instead, Samantha's mommy kept going to see some guy named Jeff. She says Jeff is Samantha's new daddy, but she doesn't like him, because always calls her Sam. Tonight, Melanie and Samantha were staying at Grandma Puckette's house while Mommy and Jeff went to a party. So tonight, Samantha was scared. Scared of being alone. _

_"Grandma?" She asks, tapping on her sleeping grandmother's shoulder._

_"Samantha? What are you doing awake?" Grandma Puckett questions. "Are you trying to sneak a peek at your presents?"_

_Samantha twirls her pretty, curly blonde hair and stares at the floor before she answers. "No." She answers, truthfully. "I can't sleep."_

_"Why not, dear?" Grandma knows something is bothering Samantha. Samantha never twirls her hair like that._

_"I'm scared without mommy and daddy." She said. She is not looking her grandmother in the eyes, but instead, she looks down at the floor. _

_"Come sleep in my bed tonight." She said, lifting Samantha and resting her on the bed. Grandma then gets out of bed and walks over to her shelf. She takes a little box down and walks back over to Samantha. She wonders what is in the box. Perhaps it's filled with jellybeans, or maybe even cookies. Grandma Puckette gently opens the box, but it is not what Samantha expects. Inside is blank. There is nothing there...but a tiny ballerina. Grandma turns a little knob on the side, and the ballerina slowly spins around. Suddenly, a soft, tune comes from the little box. Samantha wonders if the little ballerina is the one singing it. _

_And that's when she first heard the melody._

_The beautiful, perfect melody that made all her worries seem to dissapear._

_In fact, everything seemed to dissapear. Everything but her, and the music box._

_And before she knew it...._

_"Samantha! Grandma! Wake up!" Samantha's twin sister Melanie screams happily. "It's Christmas!"_

_Samantha looks around to see her Grandmother's room, and a music box in her lap. She must have fallen asleep. Then she realizes...._

_"IT'S CHRISTMAS!" Samantha shouts, jumping up. The two small and fragile blonde girls ran to the tree and looked at thier presents, and Grandma Puckette just smiles._

_--_

_December 25th, 2000_

_Another Christmas at Grandma's house, and Samantha Puckett was excited to open her gifts. That's right, Puckett. She hadn't seen her dad in three years, so about six months ago, Sam and her sister took thier mother's name. She also went by Sam a lot, too. Grandma Puckett became a big part of Samantha's life. Whenever her mom didn't want to deal with twin girls, Samantha and Melanie ended up at Grandma's, and every single time they were over, Sam became inseperable from her grandmother's music box. This time, however, the music box was nowhere to be found. She had asked her grandma several times where the music box was, but Grandma just told her to be patient. Samantha wondered what that meant, but decided she would just have to wait and see. Right now, she knew there were more important matters at hand. After all, it was Christmas morning, which meant lots of presents. Grandma handed Sam and Melanie their presents. Melanie's was the Rare Limited Edition Barbie Doll she had been asking for ever since she had seen a commercial for it on one of thier mother's old tapes. She screamed joyfully and hurridly took it out of the package. Sam's present was in a beautiful pink box. _

_She looked up at her Grandmother, dissapointed, and said "You gave me a box?"_

_Grandma chuckled. "Look inside the box, Sam."_

_Samantha did as she was told and opened the box. She gasped, eyes stuck to the box. "Is this for me...to keep?" Sam asked, sounding hopeful._

_"Of course. It's your Christmas present."_

_Sam looked down at the open box, speechless. That beautiful music box that meant the world to her, was now hers to keep. _

_"Here, I'll take your photo with it." Grandma said, taking out her old camera. Samantha grinned widely, and held her beautiful new music box to her chest. "Say cheese." Said Grandma._

_"Cheese!" Sam said happily, and the camera flashed._


	2. Chapter 2

"So what are we doing this Christmas?" Freddie asked his two best friends, Carly and Sam.

"Oh, right." Sam said, with a mouthful of ham. "Carls, can I stay here on Christmas...again?" Sam had never really spent Christmas with her mom. In fact, every year she spent it with her Grandma and her twin sister, Melanie, but after Melanie started going to Boarding School throughout the holidays and Grandma Puckette passed away, she started spending Christmas with her best friend, Carly and her brother Spencer.

"Sure, Sam." Carly smiled. "And what do you mean, Freddie?"

"Well, are we going to buy each other presents or something?" Freddie asked.

"I'm not sure...Sam, what do you think?"

"You honestly think I'm going to spend money on _Freddie_?" Sam and Freddie had an ongoing rivalry with one another.

"Well, we could have a ten dollar limit." Carly suggested.

"Sounds good to me." Freddie agreed.

"Ehhh, fine." Sam droned.

"So what do you guys want?" Freddie asked, in an attempt to keep the conversation going.

"Nothing you can give me." Sam looked at Freddie, and for a moment, it seemed meaningful. She looked almost...sad. Freddie wondered what she meant by _"Nothing you can give me." _He looked at her eyes, trying to figure it out. "Except maybe the gift of silence." She said, breaking the moment. "Now shut up and let me eat my ham in peace."

Freddie rolled his eyes. He wasn't quite sure why, but from that moment on, he was determined to get Sam the best Christmas present yet.

---

He knocked on the door. "Sam?" No answer. He knocked again. "Sam, are you home?!"

Eventually, Sam's mother answered the door. "Oh, hi, Freddie. Sam's out shopping with Carly. She wont be home for another half hour or so."

"Are you sure? She specifically told me she'd be home."

"Well, you never know with Sam." Her mother sighed. "If you like, you can come in and wait for her."

"Sure. Thanks, Ms. Puckett."

"No problem. Here, would you like to watch some television?"

He nodded and Ms. Puckett handed him the remote. Freddie liked Sam's mom. She wasn't an alcoholic or some hussy like everyone at school thought. She wasn't the crazy weird lady that Sam claimed she was. She was actually a really nice woman, and a good parent. He turned on the television, but he wasn't really watching it. He looked around at the baby pictures of Sam and Melanie posted all over the walls. He had seen them all tons of times, but looking at them just made him smile. He then noticed that the photo of Sam eating her first ham was no longer on top of the fireplace, but a new picture sat in its spot. He walked over to the fireplace and studied the photo. It was a picture of a little blonde girl holding a small, pink music box.

"That's Sam." Said Ms. Puckett, and Freddie turned around to realize she was standing behind him with a tray of cookies and hot chocolate. "She was six years old there."

"She looks so happy." Freddie said, eyes glued to the photo.

"Yeah, well, she loved that music box."

"Music box?"

"That pink box she's holding." Ms. Puckett pointed to the music box in the photograph. "It was her grandmother's. She gave it to Samantha as a Christmas present."

"Does she still have it?"

"Oh..no. She dropped it a month later. It was completely destroyed. Too bad though. That music box meant the world to her." Her mother explained. "It was the cutest little thing. When you opened it, this beautiful song would play, and the little ballerina inside would spin. Oh, you wouldn't believe how-"

Just then, Freddie's phone began to ring. "Hello?" He answered.

_"Freddie, where are you?!" _His frantic mother asked.

"I'm just over at Sam's house, why?"

_"Maybe you've forgotten that it's time for your weekly cardiovascular walk?"_

"Mom, I'm fifteen, I don't need to be taken out on walks."

_"Oh, I'm sorry. Do you WANT a heart attack?"_

"I'm not going to get a heart attack, Mom, I've never even eaten a cheeseburger!"

_"I will not sit here and have my own son talk back to me. Now get home this instant!"_

"Fine, mom. I'll be home in a minute." He hung up the phone and looked at Sam's mother. "I'm sorry, Ms. Puckett, I have to go now."

"Alright, Freddie. Say hi to your mother for me."

"Sure." He said, looking at the photo on the wall one more time. "Do you mind if I borrow this picture?"

"Go ahead." Ms. Puckett said. "Just make sure I get it back."

"I will." He nodded. "Thanks, Ms. Puckett." And with that, he left.


	3. Chapter 3

Sam meant to go to Carly's house, but stopped in the hallway when she heard an argument coming from the Benson Residence.

"Come on, Freddie!" Sam heard Mrs. Benson yell from the other side of the door.

"No, Mom! I refuse to go out in public with this thing!"

"Well how else do I get you to take a walk?!"

"Mom, I'm a teenage boy! I am not wearing this leash!" Freddie yelled back. Sam snickered, then continued to pry on the conversation.

"I happen to think it looks very fashionable!"

"I don't care if its fashionable or not, I'm not wearing a leash!"

"Fredward Benson, I am your mother and you will do as I say!"

"No! There is absolutely no way I'm going to let you pull me around on a leash!" Sam raised her eyebrows. Freddie standing up to his mother? _I've trained him well. _She thought to herself.

"Freddie!" Mrs. Benson shouted, sounding disapointed. Suddenly, the door opened, and Sam pretended she wasn't listening.

"Oh, hey, Mrs. B." She said, casually.

"Samantha! Thank goodness you're here!" Sam crinkled her nose in confusion. Since when was Mrs. Benson happy to see _her?_ "You're a strong young lady, right?"

"Uhh...sure?" Sam wasn't quite sure what to say.

"Will you take my little Freddie for a walk?"

"Mom!" Freddie shouted from inside the apartment. "I'm fifteen!"

"Well that's little to me!" His mother shouted back. She turned around and continued talking to Sam. "He's got a leash and everything, I just need you to take him around the block. Will you do it?"

Sam thought of the oppurtunity she was being given. Carrying Freddie around Seattle in a leash? She grinned happily. "Anything to help, Mrs. Benson." She grabbed his leash and pulled him out of the apartment.

----

Freddie expected some type of torture from Sam. Whether it was tying the leash to a rosebush (A/N: Remember, in winter, the roses wilt, but the thorns are there all year:|) or parading him through a library, banging pots and pans. You never really knew with Sam.

Instead, she took the leash off of him. "There you go, Fredward. You're free. Now let's get some smoothies." She started to walk, then stopped and spun around to face Freddie. "You're buying." Again, she began to walk, but turned around when she realized Freddie was not walking behind her. "Freddie? Hello?" She attempted to wake him from his haze. "We're getting smoothies now, remember?"

Freddie shook his head. "That's it? You have the chance to drag me around with a leash, and you just leave it?" He was truly bewildered.

"It's a Christmas miracle!" She exclaimed. "Now come on, mama wants a smoothie!"

Freddie rolled his eyes. _Typical Sam_, he thought. They were on thier way to the Groovy Smoothie when they saw a couple and what seemed to be thier children with a large table filled with knicknacks. "Hey look!" Freddie pointed. "It looks like they're having a garage sale."

Sam stared at him in disbelief. "In the middle of December? Yeah, that seems likely."

"Come on." Freddie tugged at her arm. "Let's go check it out."

"But...but Freddie!" Sam whined. "I'm lacking in smoothies!"

"Sam, we can get a smoothie anytime."

She rolled her eyes. "Fine."

The bickering duo made their way toward the garage sale, and immediatly, Sam saw something she liked. "Oh...my...GOSH! NO WAY!" She screamed. "THE RARE, LIMITED EDITION BOOGIE BEAR BOARD GAME?!" She turned to face Freddie. "I'll be back." She calmly said before screaming and running to the board game, a sight that forced Freddie to chuckle. He walked around the table until he some something that certantly intrigued him. A little pink music box. His eyes widened and he took the photo Ms. Puckett had given him out of his pocket. He compared the two music boxes. They looked identical to one another. He opened the music box and sure enough, there was the tiny ballerina. Then the beautiful music started to play, and Freddie instantly knew why she loved it so much. "Freddie!" Sam called. He frantically tried to hide the music box behind some boxes before Sam reached him. "Come on, dork. Are we gonna go get a smoothie now or what?"

"Uh..." Freddie needed more time. He knew he had to buy this music box for Sam, but he couldn't buy it right in front of her. "What about that Boogie Bear game?"

"Eh, I didn't have enough money."

"How much was it?"

"Like, ten bucks."

Freddie reached into his pocket and found forty dollars. He sighed and handed Sam a ten dollar bill. "Here, knock yourself out."

She was about to run over to the other side of the table, but turned around. "Wait." She said with a suspicious look on her face. "You're _giving_ me money...that I _didn't _ask for...for no reason?"

Freddie rolled his eyes. "It's a Christmas miracle!" They both grinned before Sam headed back to the Boogie Bear board game. He then got the music box from behind the boxes. "How much is this music box?" He asked the man having the garage sale.

"Twenty-five dollars." He said, in a deep gruff voice.

Freddie pulled all of his money out of his pocket and realized he now only had thirty dollars. He handed the man his money and stared at the five dollars he had left. It looked like they weren't getting smoothies. The man handed him the little box, and Freddie hid it in his jacket pocket. It was hard to explain how he was feeling right now. Not sad, but not really that happy. Freddie just felt as though that he had done something good.


	4. Chapter 4

It was early Christmas morning, and every one was fast asleep. Sam, who was sleeping on Carly's couch, slowly began to open her eyes. Now, it wasn't like Sam to be the first one up, but she decided it was okay on Christmas morning. When she realized what time it was, she was ready to go back to bed, but the Christmas tree across the room jogged her memory. She instantly sat up. "It's Christmas!" She whispered to herself. She took another look at the clock. 8:30. Oh well. Her friends would have to wake up sometime. Her first stop was Carly's room. "Carly! Wake up!" Carly groaned and shook her head. "It's Christmas!"

Carly's eyes widened and she jumped out of bed. "It's Christmas!" Carly repeated to her friend.

"I know!" Sam squealed excitedly, which was not a very common thing for Sam to do. "Merry Christmas!"

"Merry Christmas!" Carly squealed back. "Let's go wake up Freddie and Spencer!" Carly and Sam ran downstairs as fast as they could. Carly went to wake up Spencer, while Sam was in charge of Freddie. She ran across the hall to Freddie's appartment, picked the lock, and carefully tip-toed to Freddie's room, cautious not to wake the insane Mrs. Benson.

"Freddie?" She whispered, tapping him on the shoulder. "Freddie, wake up."

He groaned. "Mom?" He questioned, still in a daze.

She looked at him offended and punched him in the arm. "It's Sam, you nub!" She said angrilly, ignoring his yells of pain.

"Sam?" He muttered, waking up a little bit. "Why are you in my house?"

"Because I'm the Easter Bunny." She said sarcastically. "Freddie, it's Christmas!"

Freddie's jaw dropped and he pushed the covers off of himself. "Let's go." He said, before getting out of bed and accompaning Sam to the Shay apartment.

"Come on, Spencer!" They heard Carly complain. "Get out of bed!" Sam and Freddie shared an equally confused look before heading over to Spencer's room, where a very irritated looking Carly stood, trying to wake her older brother. "Hey, guys." She said to her two friends. "Sorry, I just can't wake up Spencer!"

"Did you say...Wake up Spencer?" Freddie asked.

"Umm...yeah." Carly confirmed.

Sam and Freddie shared a knowing glance. "Don't worry." Sam said, smiling. "Me and Freddie happen to be experts at this."

----

Freddie and Sam eventually managed to wake up Spencer using Sam's sound effects remote, an ex-girlfriend of his and a fresh cabbage drizzled in peanut butter. Needless to say, it was a big effort, but they got it done. It was now time to open presents. Carly made Sam a necklace, and she got Carly the earings she had been eying for the past month. All of the kids had chipped in and got Spencer an automatic paint mixer, and Sam had gotten a striped shirt for Freddie so she could "hate him just a little bit more." Freddie then decided it was time to give Sam her present.

"Here, Sam." Freddie said, handing her the gift. "I think you'll like it."

Sam looked at him in disbelief. "Right. Like I would like anything _you_ gave me." She said sarcastically. She was just about to rip the wrapping paper to shreds in order to get to her present when Freddie stopped her.

"Ah ah ah." He scolded. (A/N: You get what I mean when I say that, right? I'm just not sure how I would write it:| ) "Read the card first." He handed her a pink card.

She rolled her eyes. "You're such a dork."

"Just read."

Sam rolled her eyes again. As she opened the card, something fell out. It was a photograph. A photo of her holding the music box.

"What's that?" Carly asked.

"A picture of me...when I was six." She said, and instantly her confusion turned into anger. "Freddie, where the hell did you get these?!"

"Just read." He repeated.

"_Dear Sam_," She read. "_Merry Christmas. I know you're probably why that picture is there. Well, I went to your house a while ago, and your mom told me about the music box. I know how you broke it, and I know how it was your dream gift. Well, if that's still the case, you're really gonna love this present."_ Sam looked up from the card. "You didn't." She said, staring at Freddie in disbelief. He simply smirked, and she ripped open the present as fast as she could. She stared at the pretty pink box for a minute before slowly opening it. Just as she suspected, there lay her beautiful pink music box. The soft, simple melody filled the room, and she watched the ballerina spin around and around.

Sam stared at Freddie. She was happier than she had ever been in her life...yet she didn't smile. She just stared at Freddie, unable to move, unable to speak, unable to breathe. "Freddie...I.." She managed to utter. Sam stood up and carefully placed the box on her chair. She ran over to Freddie and wrapped him in the tightest hug he'd ever had. Freddie felt teardrops against his shoulder. "Thank you." She whispered. She kissed him on the cheek and hugged him tightly again. "Thank you." She repeated through her tears. He rubbed her back and tried to get her to stop crying. Sam didn't know why she was even crying in the first place. She was tough, and barely ever cried. They must have just been happy tears, because it was one of the happiest moments of Sam's life.

"Merry Christmas, Sam." He said, still holding her in her arms. "Merry Christmas."

**----**

**Ahaa, did you guys like that story? Sorry I didn't put any authour's notes in this, but I felt it ruined the moment:|**

**Anyway, I worked really hard on this story, so please. Review.**

**What, so you're not gonna review?**

**You know, the Marshmallow King's not gonna be very happy.**

**...**

**That's what I thought. :)**


End file.
